Ghana Science Project
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On Thursday January 22nd 2009, the Ghana Planetarium was
officially opened by the British High Commissioner, His Excellency, Dr Nicholas
Westcott. In attendance were the French Ambassador, the Chief of Nungua and his
entourage, The British Council Director, and Dave Weinrich from Minnesota who
made this project possible.
Follow this link for an Interview with Jacob Ashong about the
Ghana Science Project: http://www.scalingtheuniverse.com/video.php#GHANA
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) and the
Ghana Science Project is the national node for Ghana. The IYA2009 site is at: http://www.astronomy2009.org/organisation/nodes/national/
The picture below shows
how the site looked in March when building started.
We are looking for volunteers for our planetarium and
science centre project in Accra, Ghana.
If you are interested, particularly in the planetarium
project, please contact Dr Jacob Ashong on
00233 (0) 21 770 600.
If calling from abroad call
00233 21 769 204.
CALL NOW, or email:
jacob_ashong2@yahoo.com
with an outline of how you can help or for further
information.
NEWS! Planetarium Director
Dave Weinrich of Minnesota State University and Joanne Young of Audio Visual
Imagineering Inc.
are helping Dr Ashong make the Ghana Science Project a
reality!
Science Center’s Planetarium Coordinator Dave Weinrich
Working to Help Establish a New Planetarium in Accra, Ghana
"Planetarium Coordinator Dave Weinrich has had a special
interest in developing countries since his service in the Peace Corps in
Liberia and Ghana. Several years ago, he took a sabbatical to do astronomical
outreach in Sri Lanka. For the past 2 years, he has served on the governing
council of the International Planetarium Society (IPS). On a personal trip to
Ghana in 2006, he met Dr. Jacob Ashong who has the dream of building Ghana’s
first science center. His vision includes a planetarium. The following excerpt
is from the December 2007 issue of the IPS journal, the Planetarian. President
Susan Reynolds Button writes about the project that Dave and others are
undertaking to help Dr. Ashong accomplish his dream."
Caption: "David Weinrich initiated a pilot project with
Joanne Young and the Ghana Science Center in Africa. Photo by Susan
Button"
"As part of the Outreach Committee’s efforts to assist
planetariums in developing countries, David Weinrich reports,” We have
been talking about ways of helping astronomy educators in developing countries
for the past two years. Now we are ready for a pilot project that we hope will
lead to future astronomical outreach to many developing countries.”
"As part of this pilot project a refurbished Mediaglobe
digital projector will be donated by Joanne Young at Audio Visual Imagineering,
Inc. (AVI) to the Ghana Science Center in Africa. The science center will
provide funding for shipping it from Orlando, Florida to Ghana. They will also
provide a dome for the projector, identify local science teachers or astronomy
enthusiasts who can be trained to operate the system and give shows and provide
funding for the training."
"Dave explains, “We felt that it is especially
important that there be active involvement of personnel and resources from
Ghana. They have to be involved in the planning, the implementation and the
future operation of the planetarium.”
“ We believe that it is especially important that local
personnel be trained to run the planetarium and that there is adequate
documentation of the project for media presentations and for reports to the
International Planetarium Society.”
"Congratulations to David and Joanne for getting this
project off the ground. Thank you Joanne for your generosity too, this could
not happen without you.
Congratulations also to the Ghana Science Center as the
recipient of this gift and for Jacob Ashlong’s efforts to make this happen.
I eagerly look forward to progress reports about this pilot project and hope
that this will be the first of many such initiatives."
"Contact Information:
David Weinrich (weinrich@mnstate.edu) Project Coordinator
Jacob Ashong (jacob_ashong@yahoo.com) Ghana Science
Center"